


A 'Good Night'

by glymr, iesika



Series: Kings Among Runaways [8]
Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-31
Updated: 2010-01-31
Packaged: 2017-12-10 16:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/788109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glymr/pseuds/glymr, https://archiveofourown.org/users/iesika/pseuds/iesika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just...if Jason knew he had a place to go, would he let Tim stay?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A 'Good Night'

Tim stares at the ceiling. He'd found a length of sparkling garland in the street after a storm a couple of weeks ago, and brought it home to drape around the walls. It hadn't been much, and Jason had teased him about having home decorating proclivities, but Jason had also secretly liked it. It was something about the look in his eye, the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth when he looked around the squat and saw the glittering gold of the garland - it hadn't just been amusement, but genuine pleasure.

He's getting better at reading Jason, but he's still far from perfect at it. He hadn't meant to upset him when Jason talked about his mom. And Jason was right: Tim hasn't told Jason anything about _his_ family. Tim sighs and frowns and wonders if he should. It's just...if Jason knew he had a place to go, would he let Tim stay? Tim isn't stupid. He knows that Jason thinks that Tim is running from something pretty horrible. 

They've both seen it - the way some kids will cringe and flinch and fight and hide. But nothing like that's ever happened to Tim. He wonders if he could make something up, but...then he'd be *lying* to Jason, and...and he doesn't want to do that. Jason's always been straight with him. He smiles wryly to himself. Unfortunately.

He sighs again, and shifts, and wonders if he should try to call his parents and let them know he's okay. It's not as though this is the first Christmas he's spent without them, but...well, they'd always at least _called_...

The memory of last year's Christmas comes to mind, still as vivid as if it happened yesterday.

"Honey, this snowstorm just isn't going to let up any time soon." His mother's voice, so thin through the phone line, like a ghost or a dream. "I'm sorry, but we're just not going to be back home in time for Christmas...what? Oh, your father's reminding me that we have an...appointment in New York on New Year's Eve. Honey, I'm so sorry. All your presents are under the tree, though, so you can still open them on Christmas morning, right?"

The feel of the receiver, hard under his clenching fingers. Keeping his voice even. "Of course, mom. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." And if you see Nightwing in New York, say 'hi' to him for me.

"That's my boy, always so *good*. Did you want to say 'hi' to daddy?"

"No, thank you. Have a Happy Christmas, mom, and please tell dad to as well."

"I will. You too, sweetie _._ "

No.

He's not going back to that sterile, that empty...

He's _not_ going back. 

He'd planned a *crime* today. He'd done more than just plan it, he and Jason had _committed a crime_ , stolen something worth a lot of money. He tries to make himself *feel* that, searches for guilt or regret.

It was wrong, he tells himself. And immediately he has to correct himself, it wasn't _wrong_ , it was against the _law_. Then he shakes his head, because one can't just *take* things that belong to other people, even if one _needs_ them, think of the way society would descend into chaos if everyone...

What would Batman think? What would *Dick* think, if he knew?

He shies away from the idea, and yet...he finds himself wanting to believe that they would do the same in his situation. Not only to justify his own actions, but because he knows that they're *good*, they're good *people*, and they wouldn't have let Rosa down. Though maybe Batman would have found another way. Had there been another way? Sometimes there aren't any other options...after all, Batman breaks the law too, doesn't he? He does it in the name of 'justice', but... 

And it's not like it's the first time Tim's done something illegal, he suddenly realizes. When his parents had disappeared...when they'd been _kidnapped_...Tim had had to create an entire trail of paperwork. It was either that or end up in a foster home, and Tim had strongly doubted that foster parents would be tolerant of his...nighttime activities. 

So he'd signed his parents' names to a bunch of letters and fabricated an uncle, the end result being that the government left him alone. He'd been alone when he saw his parents being interviewed on TV about their ordeal, he remembers. He remembers it so _clearly_...

"Well, after he'd gotten the ransom--" his dad had looked so _thin_ , "--he said that he would only be freeing our _souls_...that *we* were going to die." He'd paused, then, to wipe the sweat from his brow. "He brandished a burning torch, preparing to set us on fire, and then...he stopped. He got this...ecstatic look on his face and told his followers that his god had told him to release us, instead...to throw us to the mercy of the jungle!" Mom had shuddered and shaken her head. "Well, naturally, we were very glad to be alive. But we were in the middle of nowhere, in a jungle we knew little about. We wandered for weeks before we made our way out of it."

"Jack was a pillar of strength." Mom had chimed in. "If it hadn't been for him, I would have died, but he figured out which plants would sustain us, which water it was safe to drink--"

"It was logic and guesswork, mostly." Dad had said, looking pleased. "The truth is, we were simply very, very lucky." His mom had looked at his dad adoringly, and his dad had beamed with pride...

It's one of the last times that Tim can remember them looking happy together.

Tim had never told them what he'd done while they were gone. They'd never asked.

But what he'd done...that had been _fraud_. A victimless crime, perhaps, but still a crime. And now he's actually *stolen* something. 

What if everyone did it? he thinks. It could really hurt the hotel company. Insurance might go up. They might have to raise the rates on their rooms by a whole two dollars - he hears the last in Jason's voice, and smirks in spite of himself.

No, he can't regret it. Not when he remembers the look on Rosa's face when she'd seen them. Not when he thinks of the way Jason had grinned and swaggered like a superhero who'd saved the day. 

He doesn't regret it at all. In fact, he'd do it again. He *will* do it again.

But only if he _has_ to. 


End file.
